


Planning a Proposal

by hannahsoapy



Series: Quidditch League 2021 [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: But a lovable one, Could Be Canon, Engagement, F/M, James Potter is a dork, Lily wears the pants, Marauders, POV Lily Evans Potter, lets be real
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-18 05:47:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29853468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hannahsoapy/pseuds/hannahsoapy
Summary: Just yesterday, she'd caught him going through her jewelry box and trying on her rings.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Series: Quidditch League 2021 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2115477
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Planning a Proposal

**Author's Note:**

> Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition
> 
> Submission for Round 1: The End
> 
> Seeker for the Chudley Cannons
> 
> Prompt: Your character accepts or rejects a marriage proposal
> 
> Word Count: 1117

"What's James up to?"

Remus, Sirius, and Peter looked up at Lily. Sirius was the only one who wasn't wearing a slightly guilty expression.

She sighed. "What is it? A prank? You can tell me. I promise I won't get mad."

All three of them traded looks.

"I'm sorry, Lily, we can't tell you anything," Remus said apologetically.

"Marauders keep each other's secrets," Sirius proclaimed, placing one hand dramatically over his heart.

Peter punched his shoulder. "Shut up, you're gonna give it away," he hissed, as Sirius rubbed his tender arm.

"Really, we're not in school," Lily tried to convince them. "I'm not Head Girl anymore; there's no one I can snitch on you to."

Three unconvinced sets of eyes looked back at her, unmoving. Lily tried putting her hands on her hips and glaring at them pointedly – a tactic that had served her well the majority of the time at Hogwarts, especially on Remus.

Still, nothing.

"Fine," she huffed. "But tell James he's got two days to tell me what's going on, or I'm setting his broom on fire."

She heard them break into a flurry of whispers as she left them in the drawing room, and smiled in satisfaction.

James had been acting oddly for over a week now. The first thing she'd noticed was him hiding his correspondence. His mother normally had a few lines for her whenever she wrote her son, and usually he just passed her the letters, but lately he'd been reading them aloud to her, instead.

She'd also caught him hastily hiding something in a desk drawer when she walked into the study, which was doubly suspicious because he never even used that desk. She tried to open the drawer later and was surprised to find it guarded by spells that not even she could break.

He'd also been asking her a lot of strange questions, like: "What's your father's favorite scotch?", "What would you say the best date I took you on was?", and "Did you say you preferred Mum's pink napkins or the blue ones?"

Then, just yesterday, she'd caught him going through her jewelry box and trying on her rings.

Oh, she'd realized in a sudden epiphany, he's planning to propose. She'd snuck away from the bathroom door before he could see her and immediately Floo-ed to his parents' house.

His parents had, of course, confirmed that their son was totally lost on how to plan a proposal. Lily knew that James was always better at planning pranks than he was at planning dates, so she wasn't surprised in the least. Well, she'd decided, she would just have to give him a few nudges in the right direction.

The first step was to tip off the other Marauders that she knew something was up, and give James a time frame. The next was to drop one or two hints. Or a dozen. Or a million.

James was obviously nervous when he got home, which meant one of the other Marauders (or all three) had told him about their conversation, and Lily could tell, because he always spoke too quickly and made really awful jokes when he was nervous. Of course, this was exactly where she wanted him.

"Would you like to do something together tomorrow?" she asked him over dinner.

"Yes!" he said eagerly. "Um, should we – food? Or an activity? What do you want to do?"

I love this ridiculous man, Lily thought to herself, fondly.

"I think a walk would be nice," she said. "It's autumn; the leaves will be lovely. And maybe dinner after."

"Lufkin Park?"

She knew why he'd named that one – it had been on an evening stroll there about a year ago when she'd first told him she loved him. Plus, there were lots of trees near the path for their friends to hide behind.

"Perfect," she said. "Should we try for five? I think the leaves will be best in that light."

Not to mention their engagement photos would look good, too.

James nodded slowly. "Sure, yeah, I think Moody would be alright with me taking off a few minutes early."

Lily knew Moody would be alright with it, because she'd already Owled him. The old Auror was actually a romantic at heart, she'd discovered from his willing response. He'd probably be pushing James out of the DMLE offices tomorrow for her.

"Alright, then. It's a date."

Up until about half-past four the next day, Lily had felt perfectly calm. Excited, obviously, but otherwise fine. But then, starting at about four-thirty, an absolute explosion of nerves hit her. She was already dressed, makeup done, hair curled, and there was nothing to do but wait, watch the clock, and imagine that everything was going to go wrong somehow.

Lily couldn't stay still, so she stood and paced the length of the drawing room in time with the ticking of the clock for the most interminable fifteen minutes of her life.

Finally, James whirled in, fresh from the Ministry.

"Give me five minutes?" he asked, rushing past her with a pleading grin. "You can't see it, but I think I got something all over my robes."

It was obviously an excuse to go get the ring, but Lily did want him to change out of his work clothes.

"Put on your blue robes!" she shouted down the hall after him. "I like those best!"

Less than five minutes later, they were out the door, and it even looked like James had managed to find a comb while he was changing. He gallantly offered her his arm at the bottom of the steps for Side-Along, and she grasped it with a smile.

The park was even prettier than she remembered it, although it was possible that was just due to how nervous she was, and it seemed like they were walking forever before James finally stopped.

"What is it?" Lily asked, even though she'd seen what she recognized as Remus' sweater poking out from behind a tree off to the left, and Padfoot's tail wagging from behind another.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure you know," James smiled.

"I do?" Lily said, trying to sound innocent.

"Well, it might be a little early for those two words," he said, dropping to one knee in front of her and fishing a small box out of his pocket. "I'll just settle for the one, right now."

"Yes." She replied promptly.

"I didn't even ask the question!" he cried, with mixed indignance and delight.

"No, you were too busy making a joke, instead," Lily laughed, and flung her arms around him. "It's okay; I already knew my answer."

James smiled. "Yeah, I guess you did."


End file.
